14 Words for Love 2015

I keep company with wolves
They're predictable
But you
You crept up on me


I find you in the familiar places
an ache
a song
the last sip


You left me in the wake
Of a love begun
That will never be


I wander around
Looking for places
To sing my love
And imagine you watching


I wouldn't keep your shirt
because I wanted to see you in it again.


You could heal more
With one look
Than any prayer
I've whispered in darkness


This will fade as all things do.
When we run out of remembering us.


A broken heart
Is that strange gift
That affords you
Time to love yourself


You sold me on you
I won't accept any substitutions
For a perfect fit


I never asked for perfection
I asked for presence
But you're not living anyway


Sharing soup
I kissed your cheek
You, the top of my head
Getting warm


Now when I sing
I mean every word
All blue notes of 
Perfect longing


I will love you in the waiting. 
Where I have forgotten not to hope.


Some things don't fade
Your eyes focused
Trying to slow time
One kiss more


I wake each morning 
and will the universe 
to bring you back to me


My heart has conquered more
Than the distance between
Where we lay our heads


I want to believe in a place 
where love trumps money 
and overcomes circumstance.


You have ruined me
For all other loves
But the damage is so sweet


You counted my freckles
With your lips
Investing in my skin
With each kiss


I could spend eternity
Planning the impossible 
Fantasizing the hypothetical 
Savoring denial with you


You were but a moment
I will carry for the rest of my days


Mother love crosses heavens
Overcomes death
And sneaks into my being
In beautiful ways


A thousand miles away
Yet still more present
Than any previous love I've had


My mind raced miles down the road with you. 
Now I can't walk back.


I'll kiss other lips
And so will you
But it's just motion to me


I'm running out of small talk
And sly ways to say
Please come home


You're becoming a story
Of once and when
Of then and always
Fleeting fiction


I choose to dwell in an alternate universe
In which my skin remembers yours


You are the smile and the ache 
I will carry until all stars fade


Your dreams echo my hopes
Revealing the paths I've laid
Leading you to me


I'll race you to good morning
And linger 'til goodnight
Holding onto your words


The best plans I've made
Began with you and me
And ended with us


You left and we both knew
nothing short of us
would satisfy our souls


I'll write you into every line
Sing you into every note
Conjuring you here


He buys me records
Then holds them hostage
So that I'll visit and dance


There's no angst
in this distance
Just the excitement
of laying eyes on you


I couldn't quit you
Because I created you
We wrote each other
in dreams


Don't come knocking, Darlin'.
You know he's already fixed 
everything you broke in me.


I'll erase memories just so
There's more space
To make some with you, love


You are the muttering-
the mantra between breaths
that says,
"Come home to me."


One thought of you erases
ten bad memories
of those that came
before you.


Everything I thought was finished
Is suddenly new with you
Beginning this life again

The Truth Is

The truth is when
you say something aloud
and it doesn't sound right

It's knowing that
some things are borrowed
and some are stolen

You borrow time,
money, and love
that you don't intend to return

I hear it like crystals,
like breaking glass
all those pretty, shattered things

I said them out-
loud and slow
and let them cut

You borrow life
because you don't know
how to to make your own

The truth is,
I'll say it now-
I knew you were a thief

The Exception

We read poetry in bed- once.
I built a mountain on that moment.
Always mistaking the exception as the rule.
You know I love when you make an appearance- no matter how brief-in the now.

When you forget your wounds and your worries.
You kiss me like you know this is good.
Like you know it is enough.
But that is the exception and not the rule.
So 'enough' I said.
Enough now.
I want nothing short of now, and no drop less than all.

Jane Austen would tell you

~

Jane Austen would tell you that you don't get to pick

what your heroine is wearing while she is rescuing you

Do not concern yourself with the flow of her hair

or the shade of her complexion

Concern yourself with what that woman does

how she shelters you when others would leave 

Concern yourself with her kindness and warmth

with her presence in every moment

Have no eyes for the looks of others

or give a moment to what they might think

Of a woman, soft 

who carries a sword

But praise her

and keep her just as she's kept you







~

It's no matter

All anyone wants
Is to be learned
Boy, I read you
All War and no Peace
You like a lot of fire
And a little fight
It's killing you
But you love the smoke
That old familiar burn
Of unpredictability

Will I be there tomorrow?
Most likely but
You like me best
In someone else's eyes
Do I taste sweeter
From just out of reach?
You have lies
And I have secrets
It's no matter, love
Both fit in your bed

Fuck the timing

This is life-

scrubbing out the dwelling of a dead fish

instead of making dinner for two.

The store said that fish die because of timing-

people putting them in a new tank too soon

before the water has a chance to settle.

The stubborn part of me thinks

that Ol' Red just wasn't a strong fish

and couldn't hack it.

I'm tired of timing being the

answer to all things

that have gone wrong.

Because I have yet to find

a moment when the timing

was right.

It's been many years since

anything that mattered 

aligned.

And so I think that

this year I'm going to stop looking

at clocks and circumstances.

I'm going to close my eyes to the seasons

and made up reasons

for why nothing works.

I'm going to walk swiftly in the direction of 

what I want

whether it's dark or day.

And I'm going to say

as I wish others had before:

Fuck the timing.

You know the game

I'm naive in all the ways I choose to be
But I have friends that keep me grounded
A little dirt is good for the soul
I've swallowed my share

Crooks are always cloaked in kindness
You have a smile that could sell dust
You showed me a little heaven
Then gave me all your hell

Did you pick me because
I can turn vinegar to rain?
I know you're thirsty, love
But you're too damned to drink

I laid it all out
Every card in my hand
Each one a heart
To your black, old spades

Whoever said that love wins
Has never played cards
With the cold, blue eyes
Of a stubborn man